Weapons of Mass Diplomacy

Paris, 2002. Arthur Vlaminck, a young civil servant, lands an impressive first job as the speechwriter for Alexandre Taillard de Vorms, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Quai d’Orsay.

Vorms is no simple man. A refined and driven intellectual, he loves Napoleon, frequently quotes classical poetry and philosophy – and if he bears more than a passing resemblance to the real Foreign Minister at the time, Dominique de Villepin . . . well, the authors couldn’t possibly comment. As the imposing doors of politics and diplomacy swing open, Vlaminck is thrown into a world of large egos, high stress, and low cunning – and tasked with drafting France’s response to a growing international crisis in the Middle East for de Vorm’s mission to the United Nations.

Spanning the run-up to an invasion, we see in painful – and often hilarious – detail the inevitable clash between Gallic reluctance and American assurance over the case for Weapons of Mass Destruction – a period that sees French fries become “freedom fries” and a line from The Simpsons about “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” gain international currency.

A tale of French diplomacy, Ancient Greek divinities, and the seemingly intractable problems of the Middle East, Weapons of Mass Diplomacy is an internationally bestselling, award-winning graphic novel that provides a profound, informed, and often very funny portrait of how “stuff happens” behind the closed doors of the Quai d’Orsay.